This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/19/in-praise-real-macbeth

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
In praise of … the real Macbeth In praise of … the real Macbeth
(7 months later)
After events in a Leicester car park forced an overdue re-examination of one Shakespeare villain, MSP Alex Johnstone says it's time to rescue another from the barbarity of the Bard. The eponymous anti-hero of the Scottish play is an unappealing mix of empty ambition and idle guilt; lacking the steel of his wife, he dithers before doing the wrong thing – and then regrets it. The real Macbeth, by contrast, was a cut above the typical 11th-century Scottish king. That doesn't makes him an angel, but even if the suggestion that he killed one cousin is right, he was at least avenging his father – a better excuse than Elizabeth I ever had for swinging the axe at her Scottish cousin. He reigned many years, welcomed pre-conquest Normans as guests, and innovated with feudalism. In the end he was slain by a rival who rode in with English invaders, a respectable end for a Scottish king – and, perhaps, the reason for the long slight on all our yesterdays.After events in a Leicester car park forced an overdue re-examination of one Shakespeare villain, MSP Alex Johnstone says it's time to rescue another from the barbarity of the Bard. The eponymous anti-hero of the Scottish play is an unappealing mix of empty ambition and idle guilt; lacking the steel of his wife, he dithers before doing the wrong thing – and then regrets it. The real Macbeth, by contrast, was a cut above the typical 11th-century Scottish king. That doesn't makes him an angel, but even if the suggestion that he killed one cousin is right, he was at least avenging his father – a better excuse than Elizabeth I ever had for swinging the axe at her Scottish cousin. He reigned many years, welcomed pre-conquest Normans as guests, and innovated with feudalism. In the end he was slain by a rival who rode in with English invaders, a respectable end for a Scottish king – and, perhaps, the reason for the long slight on all our yesterdays.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.